Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016 - Year In Review

I saw penguins in the wild! This has been a long standing travel goal and I was able to accomplish it in 2016. It was part of a round the world trip I took with four one way mileage awards. I also enjoyed driving around southwest Australia (get full coverage and satnav from Hertz). I also made progress on my quest for lifetime status. I am now 75 nights away from lifetime platinum status with SPG (and Marriott). I'm also 150,000 miles from lifetime Star Alliance Gold thanks to United.2016 wasn't all smooth sailing. I had two United trips cancelled and refunded because of irregular operations. It was extra frustrating because I lost upgrades, status opportunities, and two days. Lufthansa also went on strike and interrupted a trip to Europe with <24 hours notice. Air Canada also canceled a transatlantic flight on me. I flew a total of 159,969 miles this year.

2016 Paid Travel

2016 Total Travel

Travel Highlights of 2016:

Best inflight experience: British Airways A380 first class. The seat and service were superb. QANTAS's A330 business class from SYD to PER was outstanding and vastly superior to their A380 business class product. The slow cooked lamb on QANTAS was also my favorite inflight meal. Their domestic service is the best I've ever experienced.

Plane spotting at airport hotels is fun. Just ask for a room with a good view and they usually can accommodate. Having an airport scanner helps.